63 pages • 2 hours read
Evie WoodsThe Lost Bookshop
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Books
As a motif, books abound in the story. They are a core part of the narrative, appearing in many forms, such as references to titles, quotes, manuscripts, authors, and magical books that appear out of nowhere. Many titles and references repeat, highlighting their importance to the characters and the themes. For instance, Opaline’s beloved first-edition copy of David Copperfield is of special importance because it funds her escape from Lyndon and brings her full circle when Josef returns with this exact book in his hands. The works of Emily Brontë are likewise vital. Emily Brontë’s hypothetical second manuscript becomes both Opaline’s and Henry’s holy grail, the thing that drives them and gives them purpose. The words of this manuscript repeat throughout the last third of the story. In addition, the text mentions many other titles and authors. Hemingway and Joyce make appearances, as do the historically significant book dealers Sylvia Beach and A. S. W. Rosenbach. The way that books are embedded within the story thematically embodies The Power of Books in people’s lives.
Tree Roots
The tree roots that appear in Martha’s apartment are one of the novel’s major elements of magical realism, embodying the penetration of the magical or unexplained into the realm of the normal and mundane. Martha doesn’t try to explain or understand the tree roots. She simply accepts them as something that happens. These tree roots are mirrored within Opaline’s story, as when she hears boughs creaking in the wind and falls asleep cradled in a branchlike nest of bookshelves, with books rustling like leaves.
In addition, tree roots symbolize the connection between past and present, particularly between Martha and Opaline. This connection leads to the discovery that Opaline is literally the root of Martha’s family tree. Likewise, tree roots connect the past and present of the lost bookshop itself. As Opaline learns from Matthew, the building was built from the wood of a haunted library in Italy, and it retained its strange haunting qualities and an ability to appear as needed. Unsurprisingly, Martha notes that the winding stair she and Henry find feels like it’s formed from tree roots, just like the walls of her room. Opaline echoes this when she says to Josef: “This bookshop is rooted in my heart [...]. I have to find a way to keep it alive. For my daughter” (423). Opaline’s word choice reflects the symbolism of roots throughout the narrative, as they bind the characters together.
Parental Relationships
Another motif throughout the novel is family relationships, including Martha’s relationship with her mother, Henry’s relationship with his father, and Opaline’s complex family dynamics. The novel portrays the relationships between parents and children as either supportive and loving or fraught and abusive. For instance, Martha’s relationship with her mother is vital to Martha’s development. Martha’s mother influences Martha’s ability to read people as well as her feelings of being an outsider, resulting from her mother being nonspeaking and needing to speak in sign language. Martha believes that her mother is ashamed and disappointed in her because of her abusive relationship with Shane. However, Martha’s mother is inspired by Martha’s own strength to regain her voice. The mother reveals that she was never ashamed of Martha and always loved her.
Conversely, Henry’s relationship with his father is built on a history of alcohol dependency and abuse. Henry attributes his drive for belonging and recognition to his father’s neglect and ill-treatment as a child. Opaline’s real father, Lyndon, further illustrates the horrors of a fraught and abusive parental relationship. Lyndon believes that his identity as Opaline’s biological father entitles him to her complete obedience. Opaline sees that he’s completely incapable of love, the thing she longs for the most.
